Secret Liaisons
by Lady Patriot
Summary: Mercer and Elizabeth knew each other well before Lord Beckett came to Port Royal.


**Title:** Secret Liaisons

**Rating:** PG-13 (Suitable for ages 13 and above)

**Disclaimers:** None of the characters that appeared in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies are mine, but are the property of Disney, et al. No profit is being made off this story. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Original pen-date:** 01 November 2009

**Summary:** Mercer and Elizabeth knew each other well before Lord Beckett came to Port Royal.

**Author's Note:** There are a few (deliberate) canon goofs in here, where I have taken some liberties. This is a response to a prompt given by Hildwyn.

* * *

What Cutler Beckett did not know would not hurt him.

That was the rationale held by the man with the badly pockmarked face as he stood in the shadows, watching the window of a house down the street. He was here to watch and, if required, follow. How odd it seemed, to be assigned the task of trailing the one person he had never thought he might see again. If Beckett knew or even suspected that his associate had previous knowledge of the target... well, that was reason enough for Beckett not to know, Mercer thought. This was an assignment that Mercer found unusually appealing, not the least because it afforded the opportunity to observe this old _acquaintance_... a silhouette passed close to the window and Mercer felt his gloved hands curl into fists. The motion helped ease the sudden, strange tightening in his chest.

He remembered without difficulty when he and his target had first met, in a very different time and setting. It was unlike him to entertain memories, but these ones would not be turned aside. He had been handsome in his youth, one of the pride of his family. His brothers were more than his equals but Edward, as he had been known then, was aware of his own dashing appearance. He knew very well what effect a handsome face and well-turned leg had on the young ladies of London and he used those attributes to his advantage. With his father enjoying some level of prominence as a trader and minor politician, the Mercer family was increasingly active in Society. Edward and his brothers lived for balls and parties. It was at one of these parties that he had first met the girl called Elizabeth Swann. She was considerably younger than he, barely sixteen if that, but she drew his attention immediately. A more perfect creature he was sure did not exist.

Their meeting at that party had been closely watched, but Edward was no fool. He knew his business and kept their interactions light and proper. He learned she was only temporarily in London, visiting family, as she termed it, and would soon be returning to the Jamaica colony. He learned also where the girl was staying. It was information very worth knowing to a man of Edward's nature and reputation. With such knowledge in his possession, it was child's play to find the girl's lodgings the following day. He was very conscious of his charm and used it to full effect. The girl Elizabeth was soon venturing out daily with him. By Edward's standards, it was an easy conquest. Too easy. He shortly found another gentleman had been calling on her as well. It was a dangerous mistake for the other man. Pride and honour, and not a little jealousy, were powerful motivators. Orchestrating an accidental clash with the other gentleman at the girl's lodgings was not difficult and a challenge shortly followed. The early morning meeting between them ended bloodily, very much in Edward's favour.

The scandal that followed the duel, however, made it difficult for him to pay any further calls. With Society gradually turning its favour away from public duels, Edward's actions ran against him. He was able to visit Elizabeth just one more time, before her chaperones spirited her away out of the city. With his latest prize now denied to him, Edward reluctantly turned his energies to other, more easy, ladies. Then had come the illness, the pox that had destroyed his handsome face and nearly ended his life. Nearly overnight, the free-roaming rake was transformed into a scarred, sickly husk of a man. The shame of such a fall from grace was too much for him to bear, though of course he conveniently forgot the lady from whom he had gotten the illness in the first place. Edward, disgraced and despairing, fled London for the north of England. It was there that he had the strange good luck to cross paths with a man called Beckett.

He no longer recognised that he had once gone by the name Edward. To him, the name was part of a past that did not bear owning to. Over the few years since he had come to work for Cutler Beckett, he had learned new skills and honed his ability with a sword. Were he a man to be thankful for gifts of the past, he would be grateful to his father for insisting that his sons become swordsmen. But Mercer spared no time for things of the past anymore. Except for now. Like a black wildfire, he felt again the anger, as if he was still lying on his sick-bed and telling himself that it was due in part to that infernal girl he was in this state. There was something else as well, a stranger emotion that he hated to even acknowledge. It was not hate, but neither was it the opposite. Mercer disdained most emotions but these defied his usual barriers.

The silhouette passed the window again. Mercer willed his hands to unclench. Elizabeth Swann would not recognise him now, he was sure. That would be for the best. He would not tolerate being remembered as he had once been, though of course it would be a stroke to his ego if she did recall him at all. Not that such a girl was worth noticing anymore. Her virtue had been spoiled long ago. He rested one hand on his sword and willed away the memories and feelings. The past was the past and he was here to ensure that Elizabeth Swann went nowhere unobserved. It was almost like coming full circle. Except that the secret of their past liaisons must never be revealed, if only for Mercer's sake.

What Cutler Becket did not know, would not hurt him.


End file.
